Entire systems of commercialized pseudosciences have been constructed around the radicular syndrome. This is due to two main factors: (1) the tendency of the regular practitioner to consider mild cases functional and treat severe ones as neuritis or lumbago, and (2) the ease with which the pain is frequently relieved temporarily at least by treatment which trained technicians can give and which it is considered beneath the dignity of the physician to administer personally.

This syndrome arises from any interference with the spinal nerve roots, i. e., that portion between the spinal cord and the fusion of the roots to form peripheral nerves. The roots are within the spinal canal and largely within the dura. They are bathed in cerebrospinal fluid and are consequently influenced by changes in spinal fluid pressure as well as by meningeal disease. As the roots merge they pass through the intervertebral foramina. Detailed description is